


Somehow I Fell, But I Don't Care (because I fell in love with you)

by theangelsace



Category: Casualty (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 04:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5320148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theangelsace/pseuds/theangelsace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow on from the episode where Jacob yelled at Lofty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somehow I Fell, But I Don't Care (because I fell in love with you)

It was already dark by the time Dylan made it back to the houseboat after his shift in the ED, and of all the things he had expected to happen throughout the day, watching a patient resuscitate a fish didn’t make the list. Still, stranger things have happened, he thought to himself – though that might be going a bit far he amended pulling his keys out. The houseboat, itself was nice, he had to admit; certainly it was slightly bigger than his last one. When he pointed that particular fact out, Ben’s answer was that there’d be more room for guests this way. Dylan hadn’t the heart to tell him there were only a couple of people from the ED he’d be inviting round, and Ben was one of them. Not something he would have imagined happening a few months back. Now though, whilst he was grateful to have a place of his own again, in a strange way he missed having him around. 

The house he shared with Robyn and Max was small, plus the lack of spare room or comfortable sofa meant he ended up sharing Ben’s room. After a couple of nights of them taking it in turns to sleep on the floor, and suffering because of it the next morning Ben decided there was plenty of room for both of them on the bed. Which was how he found himself waking up with a face full of hair for about a week, and that Ben was a cuddler. And somehow he didn’t mind as much as he thought he would. Well he had, at first, but then when he had moved away the expression on Ben’s face had shifted to anguish, as though he had suddenly fallen into a nightmare. Dylan hadn’t said anything about it the next morning, but made sure the next few nights to wake up a couple of times just to make sure Ben was sleeping OK. It also became a habit for him to apologise to Dylan for waking up wrapped around him, no matter how many times he said it was alright. 

“Ben?” Dylan said, finally noticing the nurse sitting next to his front door. “You’ll catch your death out here” he commented, as Lofty stood up. It wasn’t that cold, even for November, but past experience had taught him just how susceptible to the cold Ben could be. The night he had made a soufflé for them Ben had actually ended up staying the night, and given that he had forgotten to bring a coat of his own, had to borrow one of Dylan’s. Well, he insisted when they took Dervla out for her morning walk and he had started shivering. 

“I didn’t know where else to go” Lofty replied, almost too quiet for Dylan to hear. He led the two of them inside, setting the couple of bags of shopping he had on the counter, before joining Ben who was already sat on the sofa, throwing a blanket over him, which Ben instantly wrapped around himself. 

“What happened” Dylan asked, it was rare for him to see Ben looking so small, vulnerable. Though recently, he had been noticing this more and more often. The enthusiastic young nurse he had met several months back seemed to be disappearing. Sometimes, Dylan thought that after a few months in the ED, Ben had learnt to not let things get to him too much, other times he thought the opposite. Times like the other week, when treating that abuse victim, and the way Ben had looked scared whenever the husband was in the same room 

“It’s nothing” Lofty answered, quietly, looking down in his lap. 

“It’s clearly not” Dylan argued back, the words coming out far harsher than he had intended. A few months back, he wouldn’t have cared about the apparent bluntness of his words. Now though, now he found that he cared. About more than just going to work, and coming home again. A few months ago, all Ben was to him was a nurse, nothing more. Someone Dylan had to see and work with, and that was it. Though, a few things had changed over the last few months, and somehow somewhere along the lines Ben had become someone he could confide in, a friend. 

“Jacob yelled at me” Ben admitted, a few moments later, his voice so quiet now that Dylan barely heard the answer. “Though I suppose I deserved it” he finished

“No, no you didn’t” Dylan assured, silently fuming, because it wasn’t that long ago that Jacob was berating him for doing the same. Choosing that moment to wrap an arm around Ben’s shoulder, for a brief moment Dylan thought he was going to pull away from the touch, but instead he lent into it. 

“He’s got a lot going on though” Lofty said, and Dylan hated having to hear Ben defending someone who had yelled at him, because he thought that he deserved it. “And, besides he’s right as well…” he continued “I can be a bit naïve at times”. There was a time when Dylan might have agreed, might have even been the one to say it. 

“That doesn’t give him the right” Dylan replied, because it didn’t. It hadn’t given him the right to yell at Ben like he had either of course. “And you’re not naïve” he said, meaning everything he said. 

“Everyone else seems to think so” Lofty argued, head resting on Dylan’s shoulder now. If this was a patient in front of him now, then Dylan would have been able to distance himself from any emotions. The thing was though, that Ben wasn’t his patient, he was his friend, and someone who Dylan was finding himself caring more about than as just a friend. The temptation to run his fingers through the curls in Ben’s hair was certainly there, but perhaps this wasn’t the time. Not when Ben was curled up against him, all but crying.

“I don’t” he tried to assure, letting the hand on top of Ben’s arm move in a way he hoped would be soothing. And it seemed to be, because Ben wasn’t shying away from the touch as Dylan had expected him to. Instead he seemed to lean closer against Dylan, making him realise just how much being yelled at upset Ben. Something, he was ashamed to say he hadn’t noticed before. “Ben…” Dylan began to say “Lofty” he corrected himself, when the other didn’t seem to be paying attention “You’re not naïve” he said again, only this time he made sure to look Lofty in the eye when he said it, just to make sure he knew that Dylan meant what he was saying. “You are the sweetest, kindest, most caring person that I have ever met” Dylan said, gently holding Lofty’s chin, as he rested their foreheads together. 

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, as both of them bought a hand up to the other’s head and tentatively Dylan brushed a thumb against Lofty’s cheek; Lofty mirroring the action just a few seconds later. That’s when Dylan noticed that there were tears on Lofty’s cheeks; tears, which Dylan brushed away lightly at first, before leaving a soft trail of kisses, pausing just as their lips were just a hairs breadth apart. 

“Lofty” Dylan said, so quietly that he hardly heard himself speak, but neither of them moved away. Instead, after what could have only been several seconds Dylan found his lips pressed against Lofty’s, so subtly that he barely believed that he wasn’t dreaming. It was real though, because now Lofty’s lips were moving against his, and Dylan would have given anything to make that moment last just a little bit longer. 

“Hey” Lofty said, just loudly enough for Dylan to hear, even though there couldn’t have been more than an inch or two between them.

“Hey” was all Dylan managed to say in reply, because there was still some small part of him that thought he was dreaming. Some small part telling him that any second mow he’d wake up and Ben would be gone. He’d be alone and Lofty would be back with his friends, thoughts of Dylan not crossing his mind. And maybe, Lofty was thinking the same, because his mouth was against Dylan’s again. Both of them kissing as though they wanted to be sure that they weren’t dreaming, with urgency but you couldn’t call it desperate. No. If anything their kiss was seeking answers, that neither of them were really sure of.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Dylan asked, several moments later when the two of them were sat facing each other, because he had to. 

“Yeah, it’s real”


End file.
